2012 shooting venue under fire

LE

A dispute has broken out between Olympic organisers and the governing body of British shooting over the Olympic venue in Woolwich.

Philip Boakes, the chairman of British Shooting, has written to every MP calling for the venue to be changed. he claims it is a waste of £25 million to build the ranges only to demolish them at the end of the Games. A separate petition organised by competitive shooters has also been launched.

Boakes wants the venue moved to Dartford and the money - which is coming from the London organising committee and is not public money - invested into a shooting range that will remain after the Games.

London 2012 insists the shooting venue has to be as close as possible to the Olympic Park.

In his letter to MPs, Boakes wrote: "It simply does not make sense to build the facility at a cost of £18.6 million, use it for a maximum of six weeks and then demolish it at a further cost of £4 million (both figures plus VAT) leaving the sport with nothing to show for the £25 million spend."

London 2012 chiefs had originally earmarked Bisley but moved the venue to Woolwich during the bid to bring it much closer to the Olympic Park.

They admit the venue will be dismantled after the Games but insist the ranges can be relocated to other established shooting sites. A spokesperson said London organising committee was in detailed discussions with the army and Greenwich Borough Council about long-term legacy uses of the shooting facilities.

LE

A dispute has broken out between Olympic organisers and the governing body of British shooting over the Olympic venue in Woolwich.

Philip Boakes, the chairman of British Shooting, has written to every MP calling for the venue to be changed. he claims it is a waste of £25 million to build the ranges only to demolish them at the end of the Games. A separate petition organised by competitive shooters has also been launched.

Boakes wants the venue moved to Dartford and the money - which is coming from the London organising committee and is not public money - invested into a shooting range that will remain after the Games.

London 2012 insists the shooting venue has to be as close as possible to the Olympic Park.

In his letter to MPs, Boakes wrote: "It simply does not make sense to build the facility at a cost of £18.6 million, use it for a maximum of six weeks and then demolish it at a further cost of £4 million (both figures plus VAT) leaving the sport with nothing to show for the £25 million spend."

London 2012 chiefs had originally earmarked Bisley but moved the venue to Woolwich during the bid to bring it much closer to the Olympic Park.

They admit the venue will be dismantled after the Games but insist the ranges can be relocated to other established shooting sites. A spokesperson said London organising committee was in detailed discussions with the army and Greenwich Borough Council about long-term legacy uses of the shooting facilities.

LE

A dispute has broken out between Olympic organisers and the governing body of British shooting over the Olympic venue in Woolwich.

Philip Boakes, the chairman of British Shooting, has written to every MP calling for the venue to be changed. he claims it is a waste of £25 million to build the ranges only to demolish them at the end of the Games. A separate petition organised by competitive shooters has also been launched.

Boakes wants the venue moved to Dartford and the money - which is coming from the London organising committee and is not public money - invested into a shooting range that will remain after the Games.

London 2012 insists the shooting venue has to be as close as possible to the Olympic Park.

In his letter to MPs, Boakes wrote: "It simply does not make sense to build the facility at a cost of £18.6 million, use it for a maximum of six weeks and then demolish it at a further cost of £4 million (both figures plus VAT) leaving the sport with nothing to show for the £25 million spend."

London 2012 chiefs had originally earmarked Bisley but moved the venue to Woolwich during the bid to bring it much closer to the Olympic Park.

They admit the venue will be dismantled after the Games but insist the ranges can be relocated to other established shooting sites. A spokesperson said London organising committee was in detailed discussions with the army and Greenwich Borough Council about long-term legacy uses of the shooting facilities.

LE

I think that the thinking behind using this site (shooting at woolwich) is to regenerate a horribly run down and poor area of London. I know that that isn't really the idea of the Olympics, but that's pretty much how it works.

LE

I think that the thinking behind using this site (shooting at woolwich) is to regenerate a horribly run down and poor area of London. I know that that isn't really the idea of the Olympics, but that's pretty much how it works.

LE

I think that the thinking behind using this site (shooting at woolwich) is to regenerate a horribly run down and poor area of London. I know that that isn't really the idea of the Olympics, but that's pretty much how it works.

LE

Dartford? Surely they cannot mean that windswept clay range on the barren wastes of the Dartford Marshes next to the sewage works? What utter bollox.

Woolwich has a number of "issues", never mind the cost. It was substitued because the IOC made a fuss. This has been known for some time:

GBTSF ballistic experts are understood to have estimated that, under standard safety templates, 21-metre high protective fences will have to be built on the shotgun ranges to shield surrounding areas.

ISSF rules also require appropriate room for spectators and demand that 25 and 50 metre pistol and rifle events take place on separate ranges for safety reasons. Sufficient space may not be available on the Woolwich site.

LE

Do they mean that Philip Boakes is the chairman of the governing body of an outfit called 'British Shooting'? Or are they saying that 'British Shooting' is the governing body of British shooting sports?

If they mean the latter then I've never heard of 'British Shooting' in that context! Anyone care to enlighten me?

British Shooting is the new name for the Great Britain Target Shooting Federation (GBTSF), which was an umbrella body created to provide a single point of contact for the Olympic disciplines (e.g. British Olympic Committee), and for UK Sport.